A lot of people are commenting on the prevalence of lawyers, and FedSoc lawyers in particular, in the Trump indictment. What we are seeing, I think, is not simply the influence of the conservative legal movement but the legacy of Bush v. Gore. Two points to note: - ThreadSky

david.noll.org • 578 days ago

A lot of people are commenting on the prevalence of lawyers, and FedSoc lawyers in particular, in the Trump indictment. What we are seeing, I think, is not simply the influence of the conservative legal movement but the legacy of Bush v. Gore.

Two points to note:

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david.noll.org•578 days ago

1. Like the Trump conspiracy, the effort to preserve Bush's election-night lead combined street vigilantism with constitutional litigation. Indeed, the status quo Bush lawyers were fighting to defend was secured in part through vigilante violence.

jljacobson.bsky.social•578 days ago

exactly! I am so tired of treating Trump like he is "novel." this has been the playbook in so many areas...

david.noll.org•578 days ago

2. The constitutional arguments in Bush v. Gore were not notably more "out there" than the bullshit John Eastman was floating in 2020. Prior to Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court had *never* recognized an equal protection violation based on inter-county differences in vote tabulation.

adambonin.bsky.social•578 days ago

Well, wait: that such a case hadn't made it to SCOTUS yet isn't the same as claiming it had no basis; indeed, 7/9 of the Court found an EP violation here. And we haven't seen it arise as much since because HAVA Section 301(a)(6) requires states to adopt uniform standards on what counts as a vote. 1/

adambonin.bsky.social•578 days ago

Such issues certainly arose again in PA after the 2020 election, but county-by-county variance in applying state standards was not enough, per the 3d Cir in Trump v Boockvar. See also Ziccarelli v Allegheny Cty Bd (WDPa 2021) - https://casetext.com/case/ziccarelli-v-allegheny-cnty-bd-of-elections

david.noll.org•578 days ago

My point went to the degree of departure from preexisting law; if you focus on ISLT and the supposed unconstitutionality of the Electoral Count Act, I don't think Eastman was pushing further beyond existing caselaw than the theory that prevailed in Bush v. Gore. The VP stuff is different, of course.

adambonin.bsky.social•578 days ago

And no one's going to jail for trying to litigate ISLT, on which SCOTUS deadlocked 4-4 as to PA.
Without a willing VP, any challenge to the ECA would've been hyopthetical, so no standing. Which leaves the thuggish attempts to intimidate him and disrupt the proceedings, and here we are. 1/2

david.noll.org•578 days ago

The theory was so underdeveloped that the Court infamously claimed it was good for one case only and has shown little interest in developing in later cases.

david.noll.org•578 days ago

What Trump's lawyers thought they were doing was running a replay of 2000. They needed to lie more than Bush's supporters did, and they didn't have quite the same level of support from institutional conservatives that Bush did.

david.noll.org•578 days ago

But fundamentally, they were not running a new play. They'd seen it work in 2000 and were trying to do it again.

cliff.leaninto.it•578 days ago

If the election was close enough to have been thrown by a single county, as in 2000, it probably would have worked too

neonchinchilla.bsky.social•578 days ago

No offense to the cool lawyers, but if there is some political fuckery going on there usually is a lawyer, or several, involved. Especially in conservative politics.

Also kudos for bringing up the Brook's Brothers riot. So many people seem oblivious to that event in American history.

lynperkinsart.bsky.social•578 days ago

Trump was no Bush, and I say that as someone who thought Bush was The Worst Ever.

lynperkinsart.bsky.social•578 days ago

Brought to you by Roger Stone.
Manafort and Stone were like a democracy wrecking ball all over the globe.

daveid.bsky.social•578 days ago

Hadn't connected this until now, but Trump was probably hoping for more of a Brooks Brothers riot at the Capitol Building on J6. He was disappointed that his insurrectionists looked "low class."

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/capitol-riot-senior-trump-official-calls-him-a-fascist.html

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